Squashed wrote:I might sound like someone who works for a cardiologist, but anyone who experiences any of the following symptoms either during exercise, after exercise or even while resting should see their doctor immediately, and get your heart checked. Don't just have the doctor listen to your ticker but get them to send you off for an ECG Stress test with Ultrasound.

If by doctor, you mean GP - then I must take issue with this recommendation. You should be seeing a cardiologist first and probably getting a CT angio before being sent off for a stress echo.

For those of you interested I have been officially diagnosed with Super Ventricular Tachycardia (SVT) by my Cardio. He has since referred me to another Cardio who is an Electro Physio. Further investigations and discovery are yet to be done, however, there is a chance that they can perform Ablation surgery to rectify the problem. I would urge everyone to wear a Heart Rate Strap and at the first sign of an abnormally high rate to go and get yourself checked out.

Another interesting thing happened to me on my regular commute and I want to let other readers know about it just in case it is a solution for them also.

A few weeks ago on my commute to work I had an SVT episode. I will admit I was pushing it and the moment I saw the BPM push through 150 I backed right off.....too late!! BPM jumped to 210 and sat there. No worries I thought. There's a hill coming up I'll just get off and rest for a few minutes. Was resting and the BPM fell to 150. I had cooled down too then all of a sudden it went back to 210 BPM...Panic stations set in as this is highly unusual. It wouldn't come down again even after such a long rest. A nice passerby noticed me sitting down and my shortness of breath and called an ambulance where I was carted off to St.Vincents.

Now, I'm not too sure of the physiology behind this but what the Ambo did was amazing. In the back of the Ambo he got me to blow into the pointy end of a Syringe and asked me to blow hard enough so as to push the plunger back out. With all my might I did this and blacked out for a brief couple of seconds but lo and behold my heart rate plummeted from 210 BPM to 60 BPM.

Until I get my SVT sorted out you can guess what I now carry with me on my rides to work?

Again, I would stress that anyone with similiar symptoms get themselves checked out.

SVT - I used to get those, and told my cardio I thought it was stress related as they never occurred during exercise, just came on randomly, often when I was actually under some work or life pressure (hence my stress theory). I'm actually more relaxed during exercise than any other time, know my limits and don't push too hard. He disagreed, dismissing my theory with a wave of the hand.

I went to him for regular checks for 3-5 years but avoided any treatment or medication. Whilst the first few were slightly alarming and went on for as long as 20-25 mins I learned how to stop them very quickly myself, and return the heart rate to normal within no more than a minute or two at most.

In the end he was asking me how things were going, stress-wise, as I arrived in his rooms as more recent research had indeed shown a correlation between general stress and idiopathic, non-exercise related SVT. As my general stress levels peaked and then decreased through that period the episodes largely abated. I don't think I've had more than one or two short episodes in the last 7-8 years, and can't recall any since I retired and took up cycling 4 years ago.

Thanks for the update Mikey. SVT is a growing problem according to my cardiologist.

FWIW, I've had a US physician friend suggest getting my bodyfat under 10% and eating a low fat diet (10% of total Calories), backing off from hard efforts, and keeping rides under 3 hours. I had SVT about 7 years ago and a couple of incidences since....but none in the last 3-4 years. However, my HRrest is similar to yours. It can get very low at night (30-45). Be aware too that drinking alcohol and dieting can predispose to SVT. The other thing the physician emphasized is to be sensible about my total stress levels. If more stressed off the bike, reduce stress when on it.

cyclotaur wrote:SVT - I used to get those, and told my cardio I thought it was stress related as they never occurred during exercise, just came on randomly, often when I was actually under some work or life pressure (hence my stress theory). I'm actually more relaxed during exercise than any other time, know my limits and don't push too hard. He disagreed, dismissing my theory with a wave of the hand.

I went to him for regular checks for 3-5 years but avoided any treatment or medication. Whilst the first few were slightly alarming and went on for as long as 20-25 mins I learned how to stop them very quickly myself, and return the heart rate to normal within no more than a minute or two at most.

In the end he was asking me how things were going, stress-wise, as I arrived in his rooms as more recent research had indeed shown a correlation between general stress and idiopathic, non-exercise related SVT. As my general stress levels peaked and then decreased through that period the episodes largely abated. I don't think I've had more than one or two short episodes in the last 7-8 years, and can't recall any since I retired and took up cycling 4 years ago.

Of course, every case is different. But that's my story.

Good to see your SVT is under control Cyclo and even better that cycling reduces your stress. How old are you if you don't mind me asking? And what age was your first SVT episode?

CKinnard wrote:Thanks for the update Mikey. SVT is a growing problem according to my cardiologist.

FWIW, I've had a US physician friend suggest getting my bodyfat under 10% and eating a low fat diet (10% of total Calories), backing off from hard efforts, and keeping rides under 3 hours. I had SVT about 7 years ago and a couple of incidences since....but none in the last 3-4 years. However, my HRrest is similar to yours. It can get very low at night (30-45). Be aware too that drinking alcohol and dieting can predispose to SVT. The other thing the physician emphasized is to be sensible about my total stress levels. If more stressed off the bike, reduce stress when on it.

No problem CK.

Not too sure if I'm under 10% in body fat. In old measurements I'm about 6ft and weigh about 93kg's. Ideal weight and bloody hard for me to get to would be 85kg's. That's interesting your Physician friend suggested rides under 3 hours. From what I read it seems that endurance efforts over the long term can bring on heart problems, like SVT. It's kind of annoying really. We think we're doing the right thing by exercising on the bike and then it turns out that too much is not good. Like everything I suppose.

....Good to see your SVT is under control Cyclo and even better that cycling reduces your stress. How old are you if you don't mind me asking? And what age was your first SVT episode?

I think I remember SVTs occurring in the the late 80s (my mid-30s) though I didn't realise what they were. I had a beauty when travelling in France in 1994 (driving around with wife and two young kids!), still not understanding what it was.

I suffered various levels of stress/anxiety from my mid-30s to late-40s ... not too unusual I guess, for a guy with a growing family and some normal work/life pressures going on. This was the period during which the SVT episodes were pretty regular, though never exercise related. I used to run 30-35 kms per week in those days with no problems.

I stopped running (dud knee) and put on weight and had big battles at work in my late 40s which had me seeing the cardiologist re: SVT around that time. I suffered a few anxiety attacks and had an echo-stress test at one point which cleared me of any issues (see an earlier post of mine in this thread) and these results actually helped break the cycle of stress and anxiety for me, I think. I now felt I understood what was going on and took steps to reduce stress and improve my health.

For 35 years I always thought I'd be playing golf in retirement but I've hardly hit a ball in the last 10 years.

I turn 59 next week, the day I arrive in Venice to do 2 weeks of riding in the Veneto and Dolomites.

Wish me luck - I may need a little!

Last edited by cyclotaur on Tue Aug 26, 2014 1:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

mikeyg63 wrote:That's interesting your Physician friend suggested rides under 3 hours. From what I read it seems that endurance efforts over the long term can bring on heart problems, like SVT. It's kind of annoying really. We think we're doing the right thing by exercising on the bike and then it turns out that too much is not good.

What I meant by the 3 hours thing is to ride for shorter durations than 3 hours. To me, 3 hours is not endurance riding. We talked about whether the heart might be more damaged by maximal efforts or long durations in the saddle. He seemed to think sprints are more likely to cause emboli to break off sclerosed arteries, whereas endurance riding may result in electrolyte disturbances if hydration is poor.

I am familiar with the literature saying endurance athletes are more likely to suffer arrythmia, but he thinks coronary muscle is similar in vulnerability to skeletal muscle. And it is short sharp intense efforts that scar skeletal muscle more so. Although lots of endurance exercise can hypertrophy heart chambers and compromise vascularity and conductivity.

For those interested I have just returned home following Ablation surgery. This is a procedure that involves identifying where the short circuit is in the heart and in my case inserting a Catheter through the groin and up into the heart and to cauterize an area of the heart that carries the short circuit.

It's early days yet. I haven't experienced any pain whatsoever. One thing I have noticed is a shortness of breath even just walking around the house. I hope that is just a temporary thing.

I'm off the bike for a couple of weeks but am looking forward to riding and hopefully being SVT free.

I too had these episodes and ended up going in for an ablation.Unfortunately in my case it turned out not to be SVT but Multifocal Atrial tachycardia and so untreatable via ablation.I'm now on medication . The meds act like a governor on a motor so it badly affects performance. It was also suggested I give up riding but told them that wouldn't happen.

I think that once things settle down you will be much better for the ablation than if you had ended up on medication.Good luck.John

John Lewis wrote:I too had these episodes and ended up going in for an ablation.Unfortunately in my case it turned out not to be SVT but Multifocal Atrial tachycardia and so untreatable via ablation.I'm now on medication . The meds act like a governor on a motor so it badly affects performance. It was also suggested I give up riding but told them that wouldn't happen.

I think that once things settle down you will be much better for the ablation than if you had ended up on medication.Good luck.John

Thanks John,

Is your medication Beta Blockers? If you have to take Beta Blockers to keep your heart rate down I know what you mean. I tried those out once and I recall riding and not being able to attack the slightest hill without being out of breath.

So dangerous to take recommendations via Internet forum. Whether it's investigation protocol or choice of particular medication, just remember guys, foremost should be your heart, your health. Your ability to ride a bike really is a secondary consideration. Find the best investigation, get the correct diagnosis and the best treatment, then talk bike. Get yourself stabilised with the best treatment regime and then see how you can re-introduce regular cycling into the mix, not the other way round. Or may never get past the first three pedal strokes.

sogood wrote:So dangerous to take recommendations via Internet forum. Whether it's investigation protocol or choice of particular medication, just remember guys, foremost should be your heart, your health. Your ability to ride a bike really is a secondary consideration. Find the best investigation, get the correct diagnosis and the best treatment, then talk bike. Get yourself stabilised with the best treatment regime and then see how you can re-introduce regular cycling into the mix, not the other way round. Or may never get past the first three pedal strokes.

It's all good sogood.....relax! No one is recommending any medications or procedures here. In fact the overall spirit of this thread is one of encouragement to get oneself checked out by a specialist. This is what I have done and probably many others have done.

Don't get me wrong. I agree with you 100% on taking medical advice from a cyclist forum. But we must differentiate medical advice from relating experiences and encouragement to see a specialist.

I think this forum is fantastic, especially for men, who otherwise might just sit on their ailments and do nothing about it. Men are notorious for keeping quiet about their ailments or playing the martyr, or the 'she'll be right' attitude or those who bury their head in the sand mentality Encouragement to seek medical advice is provided through seeing what that others have gone through in terms of being treated by specialists and then hopefully coming out better at the other end. Personally, I was very encouraged by others on this thread to get things checked out. I'm not saying it was the reason I was checked out but it was certainly helping to embed the message.

As I said sogood. I'm not trying to argue with you, as I agree with your message. Just trying to relate the positives of a thread like this.

Hi sogood,Couldn't agree more. definitely get professional advice.Just commenting on my personal experience. The condition came out of nowhere and I couldn't get to the doc fast enough.A good two years ago now. I ended up in the cath lab but turned out they could do nothing via ablation so the meds it was.I'm ok to ride so long as I take it easy. Was never very fast anyway and wasn't into racing so just takes me a bit longer to get where I'm going.John